1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an infant shoe having a pivoting heel portion to allow easier entry and securing of the shoe to an infant's foot.
2. Description of the Related Art
Shoes are known to have an opening in a rear portion of the shoe that allows the foot entry into the opening. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,184,410 discloses a pivoting shoe construction having a shoe heel portion, a forward section, and pivot hinge. Each of the first and second bifurcated edges of the forward section include a release button opening cooperative with a respective release button mounted on the heel portion. The release buttons may be of a spring-biased type wherein depressing of each release button projects each button below each associated opening to permit pivot movement of the heel portion with respect to the forward section.
However, infants require assistance when putting on their footwear. In a situation where a parent is holding the infant while trying to put on the infant's shoe, the parent will have to hold the infant with one hand leaving the parent to put the shoe on the infant with only the other hand.
Related art shoes do not provide for a feature to sufficiently secure an infant's foot in a shoe with the parent only using one hand. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,357,980 discloses a baby shoe that includes a pivoting heel portion as shown in FIG. 2. In order to secure the shoe on the infant's foot after it is placed on the infant's foot, the shoelace that is laced through the tongue must then be laced through the eyelets formed in the pivoting heel portion. However, with the above discussed shoe, it is not practical to expect a parent to secure this type of shoe to the infant's foot if only one hand is available.
Therefore, shoes in the related art do not provide for a feature that allows a parent to put it on and secure it to the infant's foot with one hand while holding the infant with the other hand. Accordingly, in view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the shoes of the related art, there is a need for a new and improved infant shoe construction that addresses the deficiencies of the related art discussed above.